This book concerns how the West has seen China since 1949. It covers politics, economy and society, including the ethnic minorities. Based on a Foucauldian theoretical framework, it argues that perspectives are influenced not only by the realities of China, but by a range of other factors. These include "politics, power relations, and the experience, ideology and temperament of individual and groups. In other words, Western perspectives on China emerge not only from China but also, and sometimes more importantly, from the West itself" (p. 215).